System and method for grouping and selling products or services

ABSTRACT

A system and method for grouping and selling products or services using a computer system, potentially connected to a network. The computer system includes a computer with multiple terminals, potentially instantiated as a server computer or computers and distributed client computers. The computer system presents a sales interface on some terminals. The sales interface shows products or services and groups of products and/or services that are for sale. The computer system presents a back end interface on some terminals, which can be used to enter new products, services and groupings of products and/or services to be offered for sale on the sales interface. Descriptions of the products or service offerings are entered into the computer system either by data entry operators using the back end interface or by a program reading product or service descriptions from external computer systems. The method groups these products or services according to an affinity algorithm. The groupings may then potentially be reviewed and approved or selected by human operators using the back end interface before being offered for sale on the sales interface. One advantageous application is the dynamic packaging of perishable items such as travel goods and services (e.g., airline tickets, rental cars, hotel rooms, entertainment opportunities, etc.).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to data automation techniques for automaticallyassembling packages of items, and more particularly, to affinityalgorithms for grouping products or services. Still more particularly,the invention relates to web-based techniques for dynamically assemblingitems including, but not limited to, last-minute travel andentertainment packages for purchase by consumers.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

1. Consumer Demand Exists for Last-Minute Travel Services . . .

In today's ever-changing, hectic world, consumers are increasinglyforced to make plans at the last minute or alternatively to not make anyplans at all. With the increased penetration of technology into today'ssociety, people are on-call and reachable 24 hours a day, seven days aweek. The high penetration of technology has also increased thegeographic reach of today's corporations. As the business world reachesbeyond national borders, workdays have been extended to accommodatedifferent time zones and cultural styles. Globalization also suggestsmore and longer business trips as companies grow and interact on aglobal basis. Increased competition among the world's variouscorporations has led to the need for longer workdays. As a result ofthese trends, the average workweek length has increased from 40.6 hoursin the 1973 to more than 50.8 hours in 1997. This implies not only lessfree time to make plans but also an increased need to maximize thereduced leisure time available.

Furthermore, there is a trend toward more dual income households,increasing to 61% in 1993 from only 39% in 1970. With this shift, thereare fewer spouses at home with the luxury to spend serious amounts oftime planning a family's leisure life.

For consumers, increasingly hectic lifestyles and longer work hours leadto less time for planning leisure activities and create a greater desireto enjoy the limited time available. This often translates intospur-of-the-moment vacation travel planning. There is a demonstratedneed to help the consumer plan immediate and last-minute travel.

2 . . . . But Current Offerings are Insufficient.

Modern telecommunications services have transformed the travel industryby giving consumers instant access to airline, hotel, and rental carreservation services. It is now possible to purchase last-minute airlinetickets, and to make rental car and hotel reservations by visitingairline, rental car, hotel, and general travel websites on the WorldWide Web. However it continues to be a daunting proposition to arrangetravel at the last minute using these sites. First, the consumertypically needs to do substantial up-front planning—deciding where to goand what to do—before using these services. Next, the consumer usuallyneeds to visit several unrelated sites in order to arrange a basictravel experience, including air, hotel, and car rental reservations.Finally, even after securing these basic reservations, the consumer isleft with no specific plans—where to eat, what shows to see, what tobuy—once he or she arrives at the destination city. Making thesedestination-specific plans requires additional up-front planning;securing the reservations usually requires a series of phone calls.

3. Suppliers Have Demonstrated Need to Sell Last-Minute Inventory . . .

Suppliers of travel related services (e.g., hotels, airline tickets,restaurants, etc.) also have a great need to offer last-minute travelarrangements to consumers. The total travel industry has been growing atan annual rate of in excess of 5% over the past decade. Partlyunderlying this increase is growth in weekend, leisure getaways.According to the Travel Industry Association of America, weekend tripsby Americans increased 70% from 1986 to 1996 (from ˜350 million trips in1986 to over 600 million in 1996) versus a population growth of only 10%over the same period. Non-weekend trips increased 15% in the sametimeframe. Two-day getaways now account for more than half of US travel.Overall vacations also continue to grow in popularity—increasing from945 million people trips in the US in 1997 to 1.3 billion people tripsin 1998.

Despite this growth, approximately $84 billion of travel serviceprovider capacity expires unused each year in the high-fixed costairline, hotel and entertainment industries due to unsold tickets/roomsin the U.S alone. Airlines continue to lose out on major amounts ofrevenue by letting airline seats go unsold. With load factors averagingnear 71% in 1999 for major carriers, airlines leave approximately 220million airline seats on the table every year. At an average one-wayticket price of $141, this implies lost revenues of near $31 billion in1998. Similarly, with occupancy rates hovering in the low-60s in1998/99, hotels have an unsold capacity of near 560 million room-nightsper year. At an average room night of $81 for unsold rooms, hotels lostout on near $46 billion of revenue in 1998/1999. Entertainment venuesalso often do not sell out. Approximately 195 million tickets go unsoldper year, assuming a load factor of 73%. At an average ticket price of$33, the entertainment industry experience an annual $7 billion in lostrevenue.

Combining the airline, hotel and entertainment categories leads to atotal lost opportunity to suppliers of nearly $84 billion each year inthe U.S. alone. Furthermore, as these categories have insignificantvariable costs, most of these lost revenues would have trickled down tothe bottom line. Tapping into this otherwise perishing inventory offersa huge opportunity to increase efficiency, reduce waste and increaseprofits.

4 . . . . But Current Channels are Inadequate

In choosing where to try to market their excess inventory, suppliersgenerally seek two major capabilities from a third party: 1) The thirdparty's ability to sell difficult inventory that the supplier has notbeen able to move through their traditional channels, and 2) the thirdparty's ability to move this inventory without making discountstransparent to consumers, and therefore to protect the supplier's basebusiness against cannibalization.

Third parties can satisfy both supplier demands by bundling separatecomponents from different suppliers into packages. Individual pieces ofundesirable inventory can become attractive, and more “saleable,” whenintelligently assembled together as a package. By packaging inventorythird parties can also offer a single package price which hides theprice of each component, preventing the erosion or cannibalization of asupplier's base business.

Of course, the concept of offering combinations of various travelrelated services as a package is nothing new. For many years, travelagents have been putting together customized vacation packages for theirclients, and travel discounters have been marketing prepaid vacationsincluding transportation, hotel accommodations, and restaurantarrangements collected from different suppliers. Today travel agentsoffer vacation packages over the World Wide Web, with booking andpurchasing accomplished online. Making travel arrangements in thisfashion is convenient, quick, and efficient.

However, these packages—whether sold over the phone or on theweb—generally fail to incorporate much last-minute, truly distressedinventory: today's third-party travel service providers simply do nothave the capabilities to unleash demand for last-minute travel. Puttingpackages together quickly is extremely difficult and time-consuming dueto the enormous number of permutations that exist when one combinesavailable flights with available hotels and available events. Providinghighly customized, mood-based packages to consumers adds yet anotherlevel of complexity to package creation. And suppliers make it evenharder for packagers because they are often unwilling to make inventoryavailable as “distressed” until they are sure they will not be able tosell it through existing channels.

Packaging non-distressed, non last-minute inventory provides onlypartial value to consumers: they receive the convenience of apre-packaged getaway without any level of individual or mood-basedcustomization and without taking advantage of the low prices offered ontruly last-minute inventory. For suppliers, packaging provides anacceptable conceptual solution to marketing their truly last-minute,distressed inventory, but not an effective or a practical one. Andunpackaged channels remain undesirable to suppliers because they fail toprotect their base businesses from price erosion or cannibalization.

It would be highly desirable to find a solution both to consumers'appetite for fully-packaged last-minute travel and to suppliers' desireto move their unsold, perishing inventory without impairing theviability of their base businesses. Due to the widespread advances incommunication capabilities, it is now possible to effectively marketclose-to-expiring travel inventory in real time directly to consumers.Because the packaging of perishable, last-minute inventory is sotime-sensitive, there is substantial need to put packages togetherquickly and efficiently. The required solution must provide an automaticsystem and method capable of receiving and categorizing inventory andputting together packages on a real-time, dynamic basis.5. Present Invention Solves Last-Minute Travel Problems of BothConsumers and Suppliers

When offering items for sale through a computer system, for example on aWeb site, it is useful at times to group the items together into apackage. Such a capability is particularly advantageous in connectionwith last-minute travel offerings, but could have other applications aswell. Examples might include but are not limited to: products such ascomponents of a stereo system or a selection of diverse yet relatedgifts; products and services together, as with appliances, carpentry,painting, flooring replacement, and cabinetmaking for a kitchenrenovation; or bundles of services, such as legal services, real estatebrokerage, and mortgage brokerage for a house sale.

If the business or businesses offering the items for sale offer manyitems that may potentially be grouped into packages, with substitutableelements, the problem of finding appropriate elements to group intopackages and thus appropriate packages to offer for sale can bedifficult to solve. Some elements may be good matches for each other—forexample, in a stereo component system a powerful amplifier might bebetter paired with large speakers than small speakers—and others lessso.

The present invention solves these problems by providing a method ofstructuring the work of building packages, and an algorithm forgenerating desirable packages for sale. In more detail, the presentinvention provides a system and method for grouping and selling productsor services using a computer system, potentially connected to a networksuch as the decentralized network of the Internet. The computer systemconsists of a computer with multiple terminals, potentially instantiatedas a server computer or computers, and distributed client computers. Thecomputer system presents a sales interface on some terminals showingproducts or services and groups of products and/or services that are forsale. The computer system presents a back end interface on someterminals, which can be used to enter new products, services andgroupings of products and/or services to be offered for sale on thesales interface.

Descriptions of the products or service offerings are entered into thecomputer system either by data entry operators using the back endinterface or by a program reading product or service descriptions fromexternal computer systems. The method groups these products or servicesaccording to an affinity algorithm. The groupings may then potentiallybe reviewed and approved or selected by human operators using the backend interface before being offered for sale on the sales interface.

For example, the present invention can provide method of offering itemsfor sale in a group, comprising:

-   -   defining an affinity space coordinate for each of plural items        available for sale;    -   creating a package template including at least one mandatory        element schema having an associated affinity space description;    -   comparing, with a computer, the affinity space coordinate for        each of the plural items with the affinity space description        associated with the package template; and    -   if the comparison step reveals a match, presenting for sale a        package that is defined at least in part by the package template        and includes at least one item with a matching affinity space        description.

An advantageous implementation provided by the invention is a computersystem for offering travel arrangements over a decentralized computernetwork to a consumer using a web-browsing appliance. The computersystem includes a data storage arrangement that stores descriptions ofavailable travel components and at least one travel package template. Auser interface element coupled to the network elicits at least oneconstraint from a consumer. A package engine dynamically generates atleast one travel package based on the elicited consumer constraint, atleast one travel package template, and at least one stored availabletravel component description. The package engine offers the generatedtravel package to the consumer by transmitting a description of thegenerated travel package over the decentralized computer network to theconsumer's web browsing appliance.

Such a particularly advantageous example embodiment of the invention mayprovide the following processes:

-   -   Item entry    -   Package schema entry    -   An affinity algorithm used to group items into packages;    -   A package selection process to select packages to be presented;        and    -   Sales and purchase.

In one particularly advantageous example, the affinity algorithm andassociated supporting steps enables consumers to arrange theirlast-minute travel and entertainment plans, providing the followingcharacteristics:

-   -   Value    -   Convenience—including a last-minute lens, bundling, display of        what is available, and reviews and other information    -   Personalization—including searching by mood, or people type    -   Breadth—covering all “fun” categories and all suppliers    -   Availability and fulfillment—including showing only what is        available, the ability to fulfill, same-day fulfillment, and        online processing    -   Quality—including screening the products offered and offering        premium products

Additional advantageous features and/or advantages provided by anexample embodiment of the invention include:

-   -   A last minute entry point is provided for consumers planning        travel and entertainment activities.    -   A finite list of tailored options (rather than an exhaustive        listing) is presented in a rolling seven-day window.    -   Activities can be organized and packaged by “mood occasion”        (e.g., Romantic or Adventurous) rather than by event (e.g.,        Yankees game) or destination (e.g., trip to London).    -   A scalable, database-backed system automatically receives and        processes distressed inventory updates from suppliers and        screens available components to generate potential offers for        consumers—facilitating the creation of a large volume of        creative, unique offers without requiring a large number of        people.    -   A database that initially includes information on leisure        options in sixty destination spots across North America, Europe        and the rest of the world. These options might range, for        example, from art museums to yearly festivals and events to        hang-gliding expeditions.    -   Appropriate descriptors (data schema) for these options        facilitate their inclusion in the database. For example, each        option can be categorized in several ways—such as type (e.g.,        adventurous, romantic, etc.); suitability (e.g., kids, couples,        group of friends, etc.); availability (e.g., seasonality, days        of the week, etc.); time required to complete; distance from        city center; prices; quality ratings; etc.    -   System asks the consumer for input on types of experiences        desired (e.g., adventurous, romantic, wacky, etc.).    -   System provides ideas and makes suggestions to the consumer.    -   System dynamically creates original content based on database        contents.    -   System checks availability before displaying an option to a        consumer to provide a form of guaranteed availability.    -   System provides value via intelligent truncation.    -   System provides a one-stop, complete solution including        fulfillment.    -   System includes value-added and community aspects as an integral        part.    -   System provides value by allowing customers to post reviews of        packages purchased and view reviews of packages being        considered.    -   System provides value by allowing customers to upgrade or alter        individual items within a package (for example, change from        standard room to a suite, or change flight departure from        afternoon to evening.)    -   System provides value-added information particular to each        package offered such as weather conditions, local maps, and        recommendations for additional dining and entertainment options.    -   System creates a psychological entry point for consumers.        Traditional commerce is organized around WHAT and WHERE: “I want        to buy an airline ticket,” or “I'm going to the department        store.” However, system enables business to offer psychological        entry points—better for both consumers and suppliers—that are        organized around WHEN: “I need a plan for tomorrow.”

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features and advantages provided by the presentinvention will be better and more completely understood by referring tothe following detailed description of preferred embodiments inconjunction with the drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is an overall block diagram of an example system 20 provided bythe present invention;

FIGS. 2A–2S show example screen formats the server computer may presentto customers;

FIG. 3 is a block functional diagram of a presently preferred exemplaryembodiment of a computer system 20 provided by this invention;

FIG. 3A is a flowchart of an example high-level operations process;

FIG. 3B is a more detailed example flowchart of a package creationprocess;

FIG. 3C shows an example package schema structure;

FIGS. 4A–4C show example item entry operations;

FIG. 5 shows an example package schema entry;

FIG. 6 shows an example affinity algorithm flowchart;

FIGS. 7A–7D show example management control operations;

FIGS. 8A–8C show example operations for providing additional incentivecharacteristics to render a package more appealing;

FIGS. 9A and 9B show an example matching process;

FIG. 10 shows an example consumer packaging offering including optionalelements; and

FIGS. 11A–11D show example order execution operations.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PRESENTLY PREFERRED EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows an example computer system 20 providing a preferred exampleembodiment of this invention. The FIG. 1 computer system 20 includes afront end 100 interface and a back end interface 200 supported by acomputer arrangement 300. Generally, front end 100 is used to interactwith consumers 50(1)–50(N) via associated consumer appliances52(1)–52(N). Consumer appliances 52 in one example embodiment include adisplay 54 and a user input device such as a keyboard 56, a pointingdevice, speech recognition or any other device capable of acceptinginputs from a human being and providing responsive output signals. Inone specific advantageous embodiment, consumer appliances 52 comprisepersonal computers equipped with conventional web browsing software, butany appliance capable of interacting with consumers 50 by presentingoptions for selection and receiving selection responses can be used.

In this example embodiment, consumer appliances 52 are coupled to acomputer arrangement 300 via telecommunications paths 60.Telecommunications paths 60 coupling consumer appliances 52 withcomputer arrangement 300 may comprise any type of digital or analogtelecommunications signal path, but in the preferred embodiment includeor comprise a decentralized digital computer network such as theInternet. Telecommunications paths 60 allow consumers 50 to interact ona real-time, dynamic basis with computer arrangement 300 from theconsumers' homes, offices or other locations.

In this example embodiment, computer arrangement 300 communicates withconsumers 50 by transmitting information such as html web pages, audio,video and/or multimedia information to consumer appliances 58. Thistransmitted information is displayed on displays 54 or otherwiserendered so that consumers 50 can perceive the information. Consumers 50may respond to the received information by providing user inputs viauser input devices 56. These user inputs are transported to computerarrangement 300, where they may influence or control the processes beingperformed by system 20. In this way, consumers 50 may interact inreal-time with computer 300 to view and select options, purchase goodsand/or services, request additional information and the like. A database400 stores information that is analyzed by an affinity algorithm todynamically generate packages to be offered to the consumer for sale.

Back end interface 200 in this example includes operator appliances62(1)–62(M) respectively operated by human operators 64(1)–64(M). Backend 200 in the preferred embodiment also includes other interfaces 66 tobe discussed below. In this example, back end interface 200 is used toreceive, define and input information, which may then be offered bysystem 20 to consumers 50.

System 20 reduces the complexity for the customer 50. That complexity isinstead managed by system 20's workflow and systems. The key elements ofsystem 20's Web architecture allow efficient gathering of inventoryinformation, quick authoring of packages, attractive presentation ofproducts, robust fulfillment of customer orders, and responsive customerservice. To accomplish this, a scalable database-backed system isprovided, leveraging existing systems wherever this is possible andeconomical.

Example Travel Services Application

In one particular advantageous example, system 20 provides an on-lineservice to break the compromise for consumers between high quality, goodvalue solutions and last minute planning. System 20 can presentconsumers 50 with an interactive user interface via appliances 52 thatcreates a last minute entry point for consumers focused on last-minuteleisure. FIG. 2A shows an example homepage displayed by system 20presenting a menu of five example options:

-   -   Escape—short trip, long weekend, vacation    -   Local Flavor—today, tomorrow, this weekend, this week    -   Wrapped and Ready—apologies, congratulations, thanks,        indulgences, etc.    -   Red Carpet—Hard-to-get “must-have” items (sold via        auctions)—flights, tickets, hotel rooms, and restaurant        reservations    -   Beck and Call—Last-minute services such as party planning,        baby-sitting, car service, dry cleaning, etc.

System 20 in this particular example focuses on the last minute,offering solutions in a rolling seven-day window, and organizes andpackages offers by “mood occasion” (e.g., Romantic or Adventurous).System 20 offers a finite list of tailored options, and is a one-stopproposition from idea to fulfillment. Everything shown is guaranteedavailable. System 20 does all the hard work for consumers—starting withthinking up good ideas about what to do. The typical frustration ofcoming up with ideas, calling around for availability, putting thepieces together, etc. is entirely avoided. System 20 develops andprovides ideas and full solutions (e.g., a romantic escape from SanFrancisco this weekend, a wacky evening in New York on Thursday). System20's offers are creative, unique, very high quality, and tailored to acustomer's needs.

System 20 enters the consumer's decision process several steps upstreamfrom where the travel and entertainment industry currently competes.System 20's entry point is when the consumer is thinking “I'd like to dosomething fun this weekend or this evening” or “Joan just had a baby, Ishould send her a gift” rather than “Let's see if we can get cheaptickets to Miami on Friday” or “I wonder where is the best place to buya toy.” System 20's consumer offers are designed by time (e.g., today,tomorrow, this weekend) and type of experience (e.g., adventurous,romantic, rest and relax, etc.), not just by destination or event (e.g.,airline tickets to Miami, hotel rooms in Key Biscayne, or tickets to theDolphins game). System 20 develops and provides ideas and full solutions(e.g., a romantic escape from San Francisco this weekend, a wackyevening in New York on Thursday). System 20 is able to shift share(because it enters the decision process before competitors); stimulatedemand (because it generates ideas and suggestions); and reduce drop-offfrom idea to fulfillment (because it offers a complete,easy-to-navigate, one-stop solution).

For example, from the FIG. 2A example home page, the consumer mightselect the “escape” option to bring up the FIG. 2B display. This exampleFIG. 2B display includes particular options such as “day trip,” “shortweekend,” “long weekend,” and “vacation.” If the consumer selects the“short weekend” option, then a display of the type shown in FIG. 2C canbe presented in this particular example to elicit one or moreconstraints from the consumer. For example, FIG. 2C allows the consumerto select a departure city (e.g., New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, orother city) via a pull-down selection, as well as a “mood” selection.The example FIG. 2C mood selection is intended to elicit “mood”information from the consumer, i.e., “what kind of short weekend escapeare you in the mood for?” Example mood selections might include:

-   -   popular    -   romance and relax'n    -   beach    -   splurge    -   culture    -   family    -   budget    -   wacky    -   party hard    -   sports and adventure    -   golf or ski    -   single    -   hot spots    -   bestsellers and landmarks    -   all        These various mood selectors are examples only—other particular        mood selectors could be used, or possibly, other ways of        eliciting the consumer's mood and/or other constraints could be        used. The FIG. 2C example also allows the user to select        logistical information such as how many people are traveling,        the number of rooms required, etc.

Suppose the consumer selects a “cultural” mood selector and subsequentlyselects the “go” button of example FIG. 2C. At this stage, system 20accesses its stored database of “cultural” package schema and, based onavailable inventory and consumer constraints, dynamically creates afinite number of packages based on an affinity algorithm analysis. Anexample resulting display is shown in FIG. 2D. In this example FIG. 2Ddisplay, a number of options are listed including, for example, a“Remember the King” weekend escape visit to attend an Elvis Presley(rock singer) tribute weekend; an “art and pampering” weekend inWashington D.C.; and an “afternoon tea and symphony” weekend in Boston.The preferred example system 20 does not make an attempt to display anexhaustive list of all possible romantic weekend escapes, but ratherdisplays a shorter list of weekend escapes that are—based upon thecurrent database state—guaranteed to be available if the consumerimmediately purchases the package.

In the FIG. 2D example, each of the package displays includes a one-linedescription along with a hypertext link, which the consumer may selectto learn more about the proposed package. For example, if the consumerselects the “Remember the King” hypertext link, then a more detaileddescriptive display (an example of which is shown in FIG. 2E) may bedisplayed. This more descriptive display outlines the various componentswithin the package, including transportation, hotel, car rental,restaurant, entertainment and/or other components of the package and maygive the consumer the option of requesting upgrades and/or adding onoptional components.

From either the FIG. 2E or FIG. 2D display in this example, the consumermay select a “buy it” button to bring up a procurement selectionconfirmation display of the type shown in FIG. 2F, for example. In thisparticular example, the FIG. 2F selection confirmation display shows theunit price, additional pricing information and the total cost. In theFIG. 2F example, the consumer may also enter a “promotional code” withina data entry field to obtain the benefit of a promotional special if oneis available. If the consumer agrees to purchase the package, he or shemay select the “continue checkout” button of the FIG. 2F display toobtain a further FIG. 2G “checkout” example display. The FIG. 2G displaymay display pertinent identification and payment information theconsumer has previously inputted to system 20 during a registrationprocess, and requests further confirmation. Typically, the prices shownin FIG. 2F will simply be repeated in the FIG. 2G display, and theconsumer may select the “submit” button of FIG. 2G to actually purchasethe package. Upon purchasing the package, system 20 may display an“order confirmation” display similar to the example display shown inFIG. 2H that confirms the package order, provide an order confirmationnumber and gives the consumer an option of obtaining a full itinerary(see FIG. 21 for an example). At this point, the consumer has orderedand purchased the package, and computer 20 automatically generatesoutput signals to procure the necessary tickets electronically orotherwise. In addition, system 20 updates its inventory database on areal-time, dynamic basis so that the next consumer is not offeredinventory that is no longer available, and may send furtherconfirmations and/or reminders to the consumer via e-mail or by othermeans.

Referring once again to FIG. 2B, system 20 is also capable of showingthe consumer individual components of a travel package should theconsumer be in the market for only airline tickets, hotelaccommodations, or the like. For example, if the user selects the “justshow me flights” selection offered by the example of FIG. 2B, theconsumer might be presented with a display along the lines of theexample shown in FIG. 2J that bypasses the “mood” selector and packagegenerator, and instead gives the consumer direct access to the databaseinventory of flights available during the selected time frame. Uponselecting further options, the user might be presented with a list ofavailable destination cities, and could access the available flightinformation from the database. Similar selections might be available forhotel rooms, car rentals and other travel accommodations. (The price ofthe “just show me” tickets, hotels, etc. may be higher than the price ofthe same items when sold as part of an “escape” package.)

Referring once again to FIG. 2A, the consumer could select a “localflavor” option to cause system 20 to dynamically develop packages thatdo not involve travel. In this example, selecting the “local flavor”selection could bring up, once again, a screen eliciting consumerconstraints such as the time frame the consumer is interested in doingsomething (e.g., today, tomorrow, this weekend, or over the next week)(see FIG. 2K). Upon selecting a time frame option, a “mood” selectiondisplay similar to that shown in FIG. 2C can be presented to elicit theconsumer's “mood”—and upon receiving the consumer's response, system 20may then generate and display a list of available “local flavor”packages available for selection and purchase. Referring again to FIG.2A, selecting the “Wrapped and Ready” option could bring up a display ofthe type shown in example FIG. 2L eliciting a category of gifts. Uponselecting one of the categories, system 20 display an example of thetype shown in FIG. 2M presenting a finite list of gifts within theselected category for the user to select and possibly purchase. In thisexample, the consumer can obtain more detail (e.g., including an imageif one is available) by selecting an associated hypertext link, andpurchase the gift by clicking on the “buy it” button of FIG. 2M.

Referring once again to FIG. 2A, the consumer can select the “redcarpet” option to display a list of “hard to get” individual items (like“just show me”) or packages (like “escape”) available on auction (seeFIG. 2N). Selecting the “hotel rooms” option of FIG. 2N could bring up adisplay similar to that shown in the FIG. 2O example. In the FIG. 2Oexample, the consumer may be given an option to “bid” on a particularoffering, thereby entering an auction. Upon selecting the “bid” option,the consumer may be presented with a screen of the type shown in FIG. 2Pand given an opportunity to submit a bid. The FIG. 2P screen informs theconsumer that the supplier of the particular inventory has set an“auction clearing” price upon which the consumer will automatically winthe auction, but the preferred example does not disclose that price inorder to avoid the supplier's base price from deteriorating.

Referring once again to FIG. 2A, selecting the “Beck and Call” optionmay resulting in presenting the consumer with a list of various serviceprovider categories such as that shown in FIG. 2Q. This example screenallows the user to select a service category and be presented withservices from service providers within that category which the consumermay select to purchase as described above. System 20 may also offerpackages available for “rewards” (within the constraints of localregulations) as shown in FIG. 2R, as a way of thanking loyal customers.A registration process is also provided upon registering with system 20,this registration process eliciting appropriate identificationinformation, payment method, password and the like. Selecting “myaccount” from the FIG. 2A home page may result in a display such as thatshown in FIG. 2S listing current loyalty points, dream escapes, pastpurchases (with options to right of review), gift reminders, andparticipation in message boards. System 20 may also offer functionalitysuch as read and post messages, chat rooms and the capability to writereviews on packages and trips taken.

Both consumers and suppliers get a much better solution from system 20versus other providers. Consumers get great values because Site59 isable to offer packages at a discount to what the consumer would pay ifhe or she created the package on his or her own (due to establishedpartnerships with suppliers). Also, consumers get great suggestions andoffers, easy navigation through intelligent categorization andtruncation, one-stop solution including fulfillment, and guaranteedavailability at the last minute. System 20 does all the hard work forconsumers—starting with thinking up good ideas about what to do.Furthermore, suppliers such as airlines, hotels, and events venues gettrue demand creation; low visibility on low-priced last minuteinventory; avoid the need to offer “the cheapest tickets” in order tomake a sale; avoid cannibalization of regular demand; and avoid branderosion. System 20 offers suppliers a substantially better channel formobilizing distressed last minute inventory versus all other emergingoptions such as Internet e-saver fares, sites that promote “cheaptickets”, sites that enable planning ahead, and sites whose propositionis an exhaustive listing of destinations and/or events that facilitatessubstitution of planned demand. In addition, suppliers also attainhigher than normal price realization on high demand items that are soldvia auction—such as hotel rooms in New York between October andDecember, or same day dinner reservations at a hot new restaurant.

System 20 prevents yield dilution/demand cannibalization because itcreates new demand rather than fulfills existing demand (e.g., aromantic weekend can be designed around available inventory rather thanhaving to be to a particular destination where that consumer has alreadydecided to go). Furthermore, system 20 prevents sales from cannibalizingsuppliers' regular demand. Consumers cannot plan ahead and use system 20to get cheaper prices because system 20 only has a rolling seven-daywindow. Moreover, consumers cannot expect to get exactly the cheapticket they want at the last minute because system 20 makes offers bytype of experience (e.g., romantic), not by destination. For example,escapes to London will not always be offered, so consumers who know theywant to go to London will need to use suppliers' traditional channels.System 20 thus, limits brand erosion because it bundles the baseinventory with other elements into one composite offer and price;eliminates the need to offer “the cheapest tickets” in order to make asale; reduces suppliers visibility as it is an arms-length entitydistant from a supplier's brand and main business; and is technicallycapable of quickly accepting and processing last-minute inventory.

System 20 as described can provide a new kind of “one-stop” last-minutetravel portal, or some or all of the functions described above can beintegrated with other types of travel portal web sites or otherplatforms. For example, such functions may be very attractive to build athird party package creation/delivery platform for other businesses touse or access via links from their web sites or other platforms. As oneexample, a more conventional travel website or other platform couldinclude a “last minute travel” button or function that can invoke someor all of the activities described above. The example embodiment packageauthoring arrangement, travel and entertainment database(s) organized bytype of experience, supplier relationships and interfaces,business-operations engine (back end) geared to last minute window, andother aspects could be used and/or integrated by such other platforms(e.g., via hypertext links) to create last-minute travel or other typesof packages for customers.

More Detailed Description of Example System 20

FIG. 3 shows a more detailed diagram of the functions provided by system20. As described above, system 20 includes a front end interface 100 anda back end interface 200 each of which may be supported by one or anumber of computers within computer arrangement 300. Briefly, the tasksperformed by system 20 include five separate processes:

1. Item entry is a process performed at the back end interface 200;

2. Package schema entry performed at the back end interface 200;

3. An affinity algorithm used in the computer 300 to group items intopackages;

4. A package selection process is performed at the back end interface200, and selects packages to be presented at the front end interface100; and

5. The sales and purchase process is performed at the front-endinterface, inside the computer 58, and potentially at the back endinterface 200.

In more detail, computer arrangement 300 maintains a database 400including the following elements:

-   -   user profiles    -   discussion groups    -   packages/products    -   service offerings    -   auction offerings.

Database 400 interacts with the following major functions performed byfront end interface 100:

-   -   web site 102    -   user registration and login 104    -   sales screens 106    -   customer-to-customer selling 108    -   customer-to-customer discussions 110    -   shopping cart/payment 112.        Front end interface 100 may also provide additional        communications capabilities relative to consumers 50 via e-mail        confirmations 114 and/or customer outreach e-mail 116.

Back end interface 200 in this example includes a variety of functionsthat may be performed within the third party operator of system 20 aswell as a variety of functions which may be performed outside of thatthird party provider. The functions within the third party may include apackage authoring interface 202, a customer service interface 204 and anoperator interface 206. External sources, computers or the likecommunicating with database 400 via back end interface 200 may include:

-   -   computer reservation service 208    -   other supplier databases 210    -   credit card authorization 212    -   EDI interfaces 214    -   e-mail or html supplier interfaces 216.

In this particular example, computer arrangement 300 supporting thevarious functionality shown in FIG. 3 may include a conventional httpweb server such as an AOLserver or the like, and one or more furthercomputers, such as, for example, a dual-processor Sun E450 runningSolaris and an Oracle 81 database engine with a Cybercash paymentinterface. Computer reservation system 208 may be interfaced with via,for example, a Sabre or Worldspan CRS interface running on a separate NTworkstation. Those skilled in the art will recognize that a variety ofdifferent conventional computer arrangements can be used to implementsuitable computer arrangement 300.

The expectation is that system 20 can handle 800,000 page loads per day(approximately 4 million “hits” by common definitions), each requiringabout five database transactions. During peak load periods, this will beapproximately 100 DB transactions per second. The system can be scaledto about 50 times this capacity by separating the HTTP server from thedatabase engine and replicating it in an array of load-balanced PCservers running Linux and sharing an IP address. Network hardware fromCisco Systems can accomplish load balancing. The back-end 200 can bescaled by using Sun Enterprise servers, which can accept up to 64 CPUs.

Example High Level Operations from the Supplier to Sale

FIG. 3A in the flowchart of example high-level operations from supplierto sale within system 20. In this example, partners/suppliers (e.g.,airlines, hotel chains, and the like) as well as non-partner supplierssupply information concerning available travel related items viaelectronic data, e-mail, html or in other forms via interfaces 208, 216and/or supplier databases 210. One example interface 216 may, forexample, involve screen scraping of pertinent data from conventional,publicly-available legacy web-based or other computer interfaces fromstandard travel service providers (e.g., airline reservation systems,hotel reservation systems, etc.). The various items are deposited intodatabase 400 along with attribute information.

Package authoring interface 202 is used to create package schema whichare also added to the database 400. In the manner described in detailbelow, packages are dynamically generated and offered to consumers 50via web site 102. Upon purchase, system 20 purchases the variouscomponent items within a given package on behalf of the consumer 50 viaautomatic and/or manual fulfillment processes (blocks 250, 252), andthen e-mails or otherwise communicates confirmation to the consumerbuyer (blocks 254, 256) via e-mail confirmation block 114 shown in FIG.3.

FIG. 3B shows an overall more detailed process by which system 20performs the “packages created” step 202 of FIG. 3A. Referring to FIG.3B, a human and/or computer 300 describes each of the items in inventoryin terms of attributes and qualities within an n-dimensional affinityspace (block 260). These items and their associated attributes andqualities are then stored into database 400 for later access. Inaddition, a human creates package schema (i.e., models or templates) ofpackages of items a consumer might wish to purchase (block 262). Suchpackage schema may include mandatory element schema (e.g., airlinetickets and hotel) as well as optional element schema (e.g., showtickets). Each schema in this example includes an associated affinityspace subset description (i.e., an n-dimensional hypercube or otherbounding box describing the subset of affinity space that will satisfythe particular element requirement). As an example, the author of thepackage schema could specify a restaurant with an “expense” range ofbetween 3 and 9, and with food quality greater than 6 on some givenquality and expense continuum. Another, more simple example is that aparticular hotel chain could be specified as the only hotel inventorythat can be used to satisfy a particular element schema.

As shown in FIG. 3C, a particular package schema 500 can have any numberof associated element schema 510 and associated affinity descriptions.The created package schema are stored into database 400.

In the preferred example embodiment, through real-time interaction witha consumer 400, computer 300 elicits the consumer's mood and otherconstraints (FIG. 3B, block 264). This eliciting process may occurthrough the consumer navigating screens of a web site, filling in htmlforms, or other means. Once system 20 has elicited the consumer'sconstraints, it selects a subset of created package schema meeting theconsumer's constraints (block 266). Then, for each mandatory elementschema within the selected subset of package schema, system 20determines (using an affinity algorithm in the affinity descriptionsdescribed above) which items “fit” or match (block 268). In one example,matches can be ordered or otherwise selected based on distance inaffinity space.

Blocks 266, 268 in one preferred embodiment are performed dynamically inreal-time to produce a candidate set of packages which may then bepresented to a consumer 50 and offered for sale (block 270). An optionalhuman approval process may be interposed (block 272) to approvepresented packages and/or created package schema, in order to make surethat the packages presented to the consumer are reasonable and make goodbusiness sense for the third party who is operating system 20 (block232). Upon selection of a particular package by consumer 50 (block 274),computer system 300 confirms available, locks the items in the database400 and decrements the count of all selected items within database 400and completes and confirms the transaction with the consumer (block276).

Example Item Entry

One of the functions performed by system 20 is to input items (forexample, travel inventory) into database 400 so it is available forcreating packages. Item entry can be performed via the operatorinterface 206 and operator appliances 62 shown in FIG. 2. Alternatively,or in addition, items can be entered automatically by computer viavarious interfaces from a computer reservation system 208 and othersupplier databases 210, and/or via e-mail or html supplier interfaces206. One example item entry process is shown in FIGS. 4A–4C.

In this example item entry, an operator 64 at the back end 200 viewsavailable item descriptions from an external inventory list, perhapsheld in an external computer system (FIG. 4A). These items may beproducts or services. The operator 64 then selects items to enter intothe server computer system according to some criteria. The items aredescribed by the operator as having certain attributes; the attributesmay simply be arbitrary text strings describing some aspect of theitems. An example is an item that is a reservation for a hotel room; oneattribute might be “hotel in New Orleans;” another attribute might be“double occupancy room;” still another attribute might be “Hyatt RegencyNew Orleans.”

The items are further described by the operator 64 as having certaincoordinates in an affinity space (FIG. 4B). In this example, an affinityspace is an n-dimensional space with real coordinates, each dimensiondescribing some quality of an item. For example, an affinity space forrestaurants might include the qualities “service,” “romance,”“impressiveness,” and “food quality.” Then a particular restaurant couldbe described as a point in 4-dimensional space, the first dimensionbeing “service,” the second being “romance,” etc. More positive numbersdenote more of the quality in question; less positive numbers denoteless of the quality in question. Thus if two restaurants are representedby points (x1,y1,z1,w1) and (x2,y2,z2,w2) in the affinity space, theycan be compared on these qualities by comparing x1 to x2, y1 to y2, etc,or by actually using a quality function (a simple example being distancebetween the two restaurants). Affinity coordinates can be discrete orcontinuous, and can specify a range of values and/or a true/falsecondition. One example type of affinity coordinate is a binary (yes/no)value specifying whether a hotel is or is not romantic, whether arestaurant is or is not expensive, etc. Another example is type ofaffinity coordinate can specify a range of values (e.g., romance on ascale of 0 to 10).

When the operator 64 has entered the descriptions of the items into thecomputer 300, including their attributes and their coordinates in theaffinity space (FIG. 4C), they are stored in the database 400 or onbacking store in the computer system 20.

Alternatively, this operation may be performed by a program using somemethod to parse the external item descriptions into item descriptionswith attributes and coordinates in the affinity space. For example, sucha program might recognize the string “deluxe service” in an externalitem description (e.g., Zagat's guide) as corresponding to a value of 9for the first coordinate, “service,” in the affinity space.

If the items being sold are programs or data or some combination ofthese, or if it is useful to provide programs or data to the customerwhen the items are sold, the item descriptions may be accompanied by theprograms or data so that these can be stored and provided to thecustomer directly from the computer 300.

Example Package Schema

The operations shown in FIGS. 4A–4C and described above generate adatabase of available inventory of items along with affinity coordinatesand attributes associated with each item in the inventory. The preferredexample system 20 uses additional prestored information in the form ofpackage schema 500 to dynamically assemble individual inventorycomponents into a package.

In this example embodiment, a package schema consists of a packagedescription in some form, possibly including text, images, animations,etc., along with a vector of package element schemata. Each elementschema consists of a field stating whether this element is mandatory oroptional, a list of required attributes, and a description of a subsetof the affinity space; for example a closed n-dimensional rectangle inan n-dimensional affinity space, or a half-hyperplane, etc. The packageschema describes then the items that can be used to make up a package.Each package schema 500 can include any number of element schema.

FIG. 5 shows examples of two different package schemas 500 a, 500 b. Inthe FIG. 500 a example, the package schema includes a field 502 a(1)indicating that the element is optional, a list 502 b(2) of requiredattributes including rental car, and “Route 1, Maine”; and affinityconstraints 502 c(1) indicating a quality coordinate of greater than 5and a seats coordinate of greater than 3. In the FIG. 500 b example, therequired attributes field 502 a(2) indicates that the element ismandatory; the required attributes 502 b(2) include “restaurant” and“Route 1, Maine”; and the affinity constraints 502 c(2) include aservice coordinate of greater than 6, a romance coordinate of less than10, and impressiveness coordinate of between 3 and 11 and a food qualitycoordinate of greater than 6.

In this example, the package schema 500 are inputted to computer system300 by a human operator 64 using appliance 62. However, it will beunderstood that automatic or other techniques can be used.

Example Affinity Algorithm

In this example, computer 300 executes an affinity algorithm to finditems entered into the computer that can be used to make up a packagedefined by a schema 500. Briefly, the affinity algorithm is used tomatch or otherwise satisfy the previously entered schema 500 based onitems previously entered and available in database 400. One possibleaffinity algorithm 600 (shown schematically in FIG. 6) is:

-   -   Initialize the candidate set to empty    -   For each package schema        -   For each mandatory element in the package schema            -   For each item            -   If the item attributes include the required attributes                of the element, and the item affinity coordinates match                the affinity constraints of the element            -   Then continue to the next mandatory element            -   Otherwise continue to the next item        -   If no item matches the mandatory element, continue to the            next package schema    -   1. When matching items have been found for all the mandatory        elements, then add the package schema to the candidate set    -   When all package schema have been examined, return the candidate        set.

In more detail, the FIG. 6 example flow diagram shows an exampleaffinity algorithm including an initialization block 602 in whichcomputer 300 initializes a candidate set to empty and initializes apackage set to all package schema. The algorithm 600 then takes apackage schema from the package schema set (block 604) and takes anelement schema from the package schema (block 606). The examplealgorithm 600 next initializes an item set to all items (block 608),takes an item from the item set (block 610) and asks the questions:“does the item have all required attributes and do item affinitycoordinates match the element schema?” (block 612). If the block 612condition is satisfied (“yes” exit), then algorithm 600 determineswhether more element schema remain in the package schema (decision block614). If additional elements schema remain (“yes” exit to decision block614), then control returns to block 606 and steps 606–612 are repeated(iteratively). If all element schema within the package schema have beenresolved (“no” exit to decision block 614), then the package schema isadded to a candidate set for possible presentation to the consumer(block 616). If additional package remain in the package schema set(“yes” exit to decision block 620), then control returns to block 604 torepeat steps 604–620.

Referring once again to decision block 612, if the criteria of decisionblock 612 are not satisfied (i.e., a particular item does not yet haveall required attributes and/or item affinity coordinates don't match theelement schema), then decision block 618 tests whether more items remainin the item set (block 618). If more elements remain (“yes” exit todecision block 618), then control returns to block 610 to take anadditional item from the item set and perform the block 612 test. If nomore items remain in the item set, on the other hand (“no” exit todecision block 618), then control returns to block 620. Once all packageschemata in the package schema set have been processed (“no” exit todecision block 620), then algorithm 600 returns a candidate set forpossible presentation to the consumer (block 622).

The execution of algorithm 600 may be speeded by maintaining a hashtable of items keyed by attribute. In this case, the inner loop over allitems in the computer system reduces to a hash table lookup for eachrequired attribute, and the formation of the intersection of the sets ofitems having that attribute.

Example Package Selection

Package selection is the process by which packages from a candidate setare selected for sale. The example package selection process is bothhierarchical and flexible at the same time. Under normal circumstances,two levels of management control are used to fully control this process.The 1st level, called here local content manager, executes a selectionof certain packages out of the universe of available packages. Thesepackages are chosen using a set of criteria. This set of criteria can belarge, but common examples would include experience gleaned from pastconsumer behavior and inventory characteristics such as seasonality orunexpected supply due to some event. An example 1st level of selectionprocess is shown in FIGS. 7A–7D.

In the FIG. 7A example, a local content manager defines a packagetemplate using a package authoring interface 202 via appliance 62. Forexample, an operator 64 may use the package authoring interface 202 todefine a package with possible offering information such as “round tripflight to Memphis, four nights at the Royalton Hotel.” In response tothis input, computer system 20 returns with possible combinations ofround trip flights and hotel reservations that fit the constraints (seeFIG. 7B). An operator 64 may then select offerings of interest (FIG.7C), and put the selected offerings on a queue 700 for approval (block 7d).

A second more senior level, called here regional director, decideswhether the distribution and content of the presented packages isreasonable on a more global scale (eastern US, national or possiblyinternational). This level controls the actual release of the proposedor selected packages.

At this level or higher, additional incentive characteristics can beadded to render a package more appealing. The reason to make a packagemore appealing could be due to many factors including promotional ideas,customer requests or preferences coming from feedback, satisfying somekind of performance criteria or other requirements present at a giventime in a given region (for instance when flights are available at lessconvenient times, or the consumer would arrive too early to check into agiven Hotel). This is shown in FIGS. 8A–8C. In this FIGS. 8A–8C example,a regional director 64 r looks at the offerings in queue 700 andselectively modifies the offerings by, for example, changing defaultmargins, adding coupons, adding a rebate, etc. (FIG. 8B). A regionaldirector 64 authorizes (approves) of the posting of offerings. Afterrelease, the package becomes visible and hence available for sale at thefront end.

In a way the actions of the Regional Director, for instance, could beviewed as adding additional coordinates on new dimensions. For example,in the n-dimensional case restaurant A and B are closest and C isfurther from both, but restaurant B only takes reservations Mondaythrough Wednesday and patrons are always given less desireablereservation times. The Regional Director knows this so he assigns a highrating to restaurant A and C but a low one to restaurant B for thisadditional axis (call it ‘customer flexibility’). In this now n+1dimensional affinity space, restaurant A and C are actually closer and Bis more distant. When the customer sets his preferences he cannotdirectly set a preference for this latter one, but he still benefitsfrom this. The Regional Director meanwhile might not be familiar withall the original n coordinates, but he is able to contribute by addinghis knowledge in the form of an additional coordinate. Additionally someextra coordinate on a new dimension could be also derived from customerfeedback. So we can now view this affinity space as having n+2dimensions.

Example Sales and Purchase

The Sales and Purchase process represents the final step. The candidatesets of packages have already been authorized for presentation topotential customers on the front end of the system. The sales processbegins when a consumer presents a set of interests (such as time oftravel, departing city, type or mood of trip). The gathering of thesecoordinates is performed through a multi-level user interface thatmatches his choice of coordinates with a possible subset of thepresentable packages. This intersection could be large or zero, but onaverage is expected to be a reasonably small number.

The consumer has now set up a list of constraints. These constraints aremapped directly onto the relevant axis of this affinity space. Theresult is usually represented by a set packages that fit either entirely(or partially) the subspace delimited by the consumers preferences. Anexample of this process is displayed in FIGS. 9A–9B. In this example, aconsumer 50 uses appliance 52 to specify a type of trip, a departurecity and a mood (see example displays described above in connection withFIGS. 2B and 2C, for example) (FIG. 9A). Computer 300 converts theconsumer's mood, departure city and type of trip preferences intocoordinates in the affinity space, and returns a set of offerings thatare within the space delimited by those requirements (FIG. 9B). The FIG.9B process is performed dynamically in real-time based upon inventorycurrently available within database 400 in the preferred embodiment.These return package offerings may be displayed on the consumer'sappliance 52 (see, for example, FIG. 2D).

The package(s) at this point contains all the basic elements needed butadditional or optional items can be added with or without the benefit ofa discount or incentive. FIG. 10 shows an example process in which aconsumer 50 may select optional items (e.g., car rental, show tickets,etc.).

Once the consumer makes a decision to buy a certain package, a set oftransactions get executed in a predetermined order. This set ofexecutions entails a significant amount of work partially on the frontend 100 and mostly on the back end 200 of the system. A standardnomenclature would be to call this an order-flow process or from thebuying consumer viewpoint a fulfillment process.

The consumer is first apprised of his order by visual display (see,e.g., FIG. 2H). Further, a more reliable and definite kind ofnotification is issued (either through written or electronic mail). Insuccessive steps a subset of the following transactions (not necessarilyin the sequence indicated below) take place as shown in FIGS. 11A–11D:

-   -   The order is executed either entirely electronically or with        partial help of operators in the event that certain transactions        cannot be automated or requires more detailed attention (FIG.        11A).    -   For the selected package, the available amount is decreased by        the number purchased by the consumer (FIG. 11B).    -   After confirmation of the order by the seller (which again could        be done via an electronic check of approval codes and/or an        operator assisted set of interventions), a written or electronic        document is issued to the buyer with additional relevant        information confirming the selection and providing additional        information that the seller chooses to include (examples could        be detailed itinerary, description of events or places, travel        times) (FIG. 11C).    -   Relevant information is stored on the back end for potential        optimization of the affinity algorithm and other relevant        (required or optional) use such as reporting and analysis (FIG.        11D).    -   Information is stored for consumer feedback and ratings.

The processes described in the sections above can be repeated asproducts become available or as the consumer decides to execute morepurchases of packages presented to him that fit his particular set ofconstraints.

While the invention has been described in connection with what ispresently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment,it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to thedisclosed embodiment, but on the contrary, is intended to cover variousmodifications and equivalent arrangements included within the scope ofthe appended claims.

1. A method of generating at least one package, each package includingat least one item for sale, the method comprising: (1) defining anaffinity space coordinate for each of a plurality of items available forsale and storing the affinity space coordinates associated with the itemin a database; (2) creating a plurality of package templates and storingthe templates in a database, each package template including at leastone mandatory element schema having an associated required attribute andan associated affinity constraint; thereafter (3) receiving a requestfor a package from a consumer, wherein the consumer request has anaffinity constraint associated therewith; and (4) dynamicallygenerating, with a computer, at least one package from at least one ofthe plurality of package templates based upon the consumer request,wherein dynamically generating at least one package comprises: selectingat least one of the plurality of package templates, wherein the selectedpackage template corresponds to the affinity constraint associated withthe request; comparing the affinity space coordinates for each of theplurality of items from the database with the required attribute and theaffinity constraint associated with the selected package templates; andif the comparison step reveals a match, generating a package that isdefined at least in part by the respective package template and includesat least one item with a matching affinity space coordinate.
 2. Themethod of claim 1 further comprising presenting for sale the generatedpackage, wherein the presenting step is performed by dynamicallygenerating an html page containing a description of the package, andtransmitting the html page over a decentralized computer network to atleast one consumer.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the selecting stepcomprises selecting at least one of the package templates based at leastin part on the consumer request.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein theconsumer request includes consumer mood.
 5. The method of claim 3wherein the consumer request includes number of persons traveling. 6.The method of claim 3 wherein the consumer request includes a timingconstraint.
 7. The method of claim 1 further comprising storing adescription of each of the plurality of items, including the associatedaffinity space coordinates, in a computer database, and wherein thecomparing step includes searching the computer database for items havingaffinity coordinates matching the required attribute and the affinityconstraint associated with the selected package templates.
 8. The methodof claim 1 further comprising maintaining a hash table of the itemskeyed by affinity space coordinate, and wherein the comparing stepincludes performing a hash table lookup for each required attribute andrequired affinity constraint.
 9. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising permitting the consumer to purchase the generated package.10. The method of claim 9 further comprising confirming the consumer'spurchase of the package.
 11. A computer system for generating at leastone package, each package including at least one item for sale, thecomputer system comprising: a database that stores at least adescription of each of a plurality of items available for sale, thedescription including an affinity space coordinate, the database alsostoring a plurality of package templates, each package templateincluding at least one mandatory element schema having an associatedrequired attribute and an associated affinity constraint; a front endthat receives a request for a package from a consumer, wherein theconsumer request has an affinity constraint associated therewith; and aback end coupled to the front end and the database, the back end adaptedto dynamically generate at least one package from at least one of theplurality of package templates based upon the consumer request, whereinthe back end is adapted to dynamically generate at least one package byselecting at least one of the plurality of package templates, whereinthe selected package template corresponds to the affinity constraintassociated with the consumer request, comparing the affinity spacecoordinate for each of the plurality of items from the database with therequired attribute and the affinity constraint associated with theselected package templates, and if the comparison reveals a match,generating a package that is defined at least in part by the respectivepackage template and includes at least one item with a matching affinityspace coordinate.
 12. The system of claim 11 wherein the front endincludes a page generator that dynamically generates an html pagecontaining a description of the generated package.
 13. The system ofclaim 11 wherein the back end is adapted to select at least one of theplurality of the package templates based at least in part on theconsumer request.
 14. The system of claim 13 wherein the consumerrequest includes consumer mood.
 15. The system of claim 13 wherein theconsumer request includes number of persons traveling.
 16. The system ofclaim 13 wherein the consumer request includes a timing constraint. 17.The system of claim 11 wherein the back end is further adapted to searchthe database for items having affinity coordinates matching the requiredattribute and the affinity constraint associated with the selectedpackage templates.
 18. The system of claim 11 further including a hashtable of the plurality of items keyed by affinity space coordinate,wherein the back end is adapted to perform a hash table lookup for eachrequired attribute and required affinity constraint.
 19. The system ofclaim 11 further including a purchase transactor that permits a consumerto purchase the generated package.
 20. The system of claim 19 furtherincluding a confirmation section that confirms the consumer's purchaseof the generated package.
 21. A method of generating at least onepackage, each package including at least one item for sale, the methodcomprising: defining an affinity space coordinate for each of aplurality of items available for sale and storing the affinity spacecoordinates associated with the item in a database; creating a pluralityof package templates and storing the templates in a database, eachpackage template including at least one mandatory element schema havingan associated required attribute and an associated affinity constraint;thereafter dynamically generating, with a computer, at least one packagefrom at least one of the plurality of package templates based uponcomparing the affinity space coordinate for each of the plurality ofitems from the database with the required attribute and the affinityconstraint associated with the selected package templates, and if thecomparison step reveals a match, generating a package that is defined atleast in part by the respective package template and includes at leastone item with a matching affinity space coordinate; and mapping thepackage in affinity space for comparison to a request for a package, therequest having affinity constraints associated therewith; receiving therequest for a package; mapping the request in affinity space;determining whether the request correlates to the stored package; andoffering the stored package for sale if the request correlates to thestored package.